A call might not go through. It might be interrupted. Reception might be poor. A message might say that the phone no longer will work.

Officials from wireless companies say they can't quantify the damage to networks in the area affected by Hurricane Gustav or say when service will be back to normal. But those officials say they don't expect the problems to linger once power is restored to normal.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation,'' Sprint communications manager Kristin Wallace said. "We are working with the local authorities.

"The main reason it (cell-phone service) would go down is power is out. What we have done to some key sites is we've added permanent generators with those sites.''

Wallace said that portable generators would be placed at areas affected by the storm. "We're in constant communication with the power company,'' she said, and "key customers,'' such as police and hospitals, would be first in line, she said.

Scott Morris, an Alltell Wireless spokesman, said: "Power outages are the major problem right now. We really have two problems. One is power. The other is telephone lines down. ... Most cell-phone calls run through telephone lines. We have crews ready to move in. As we're able to, we'll get back into the city to do visual inspections of all the cell sites. We expect in the next day or two to make pretty good progress.''

"If a tree falls on a tower, obviously you have a problem,'' he said.

The crews are experienced in assessing damage from hurricanes, he said. "Once the power is back, and they can get to the sites, it (service) should come back pretty quickly.''

Wallace said that crews from her company "were able to get in today to the areas that were impacted.

"They're beginning to move in the portable generators. That's good news, so we don't have to rely on the power company.

Morris said that his company plans to provide free calling minutes and text messaging for customers who evacuated. "Because of the mandatory evacuations, they need to be able to communicate,'' he said.

Wallace said Sprint is considering doing the same same. "We don't have details finalized for customers who were impacted,'' she said.